Mark Furler is APN Australian Regional Media’s group digital editor. He’s an award-winning journalist who has lived and worked on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for more than 25 years. He’s passionate about fighting for a better go for locals. His awards include APN Editor of the Year, and involvement in three PANPA Newspaper of the Year wins for the Sunshine Coast Daily.

The reason is because there is no real guarantee that this national vote is just about marriage equality, despite what the politicians might promise.

And there's the rub for conservatives, Christians, and those who support 'traditional' family values.

The No camp has real fears this will just be the first step in a process that will ultimately undermine not just religious freedoms, but freedoms of those who want to teach their children traditional views around family, sexuality and marriage.

What has clouded the debate, of course, is some of the revelations we have seen about the Safe Schools program.

There are parents who have genuine concerns about what their students are being taught under such initiatives.